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Subject:

Jug Bay notes

From:

Jeff Shenot

Reply-To:

Jeff Shenot

Date:

Fri, 9 May 2008 08:46:13 -0400

Greetings!

I love this time of year!  I had yesterday (May 8) off and went out on a 
pontoon boat trip with Greg Kearns (Jug Bay at Pax. River Park).  We had a 
very high tide due to prevailing winds, and intermittent light rain, so conditions 
were not favorable for finding marsh birds but we still managed to find Sora, 
Marsh Wrens and a few shorebirds.  Shorebirds were mostly fly-bys, except at 
one dock we had a great view of both Yellowlegs species as they rested 
there, providing an excellent side-by-side comparison for the group.  I think 
the highlight was a pair of Barred Owls that responded to a mouth call from 
Greg. They came in separately right up to the boat and perched about 40 and 
60 feet away, respectively.  They made a great variety of calls and went 
through the entire Barred Owl repertoire.  I really regret that I did not have 
my camcorder as it was a rare photo opportunity to catch them calling like 
that at such close range.  A common bird, yes, but it was an exceptionally 
exciting performance to experience!  After the trip I made a short loop around 
the Black Walnut Cr trail and picked up a few more nice migrants, the best 
being a brilliantly colored Cape May Warbler singing persistently and in plain 
view at the parking lot!

83 species (not bad given the weather)
7 to 11 am

Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Sora 1-2
Greater Yellowlegs 5
Lesser Yellowlegs 10
Solitary Sandpiper 5-6
Spotted Sandpiper 7
Peep sp. (2 Calidris sp.; seen very briefly before landing out of sight)
Other sandpiper sp. (7 in very brief fly-by; suggest dowitchers)
Common Snipe 2
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Mourning Dove
Barred Owl
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great-crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Marsh Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Northern Parula 10+
Yellow Warbler 2
Cape May Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 7
Blackpoll Warbler 8
American Redstart 5
Prothonotary Warbler 2
Ovenbird 6
Northern Waterthrush 2
Louisiana Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat abundant
Hooded Warbler 3
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Summer Tanager 3
Scarlet Tanager 6
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Hopefully this weather front will bring more excitement for tomorrow's May 
Count, but even if it is an average day I am jazzed for it!

Jeff Shenot
Croom MD